Each year we visit a local family farm for their Maple Sugaring demonstration. What a hands-on (and tasty) way to learn about Native American and Colonial culture and history, chemistry, the weather, and ecology!

We followed the maple sugaring process from start to finish.

First, we learned a bit about the sugar maple (which is so important that New York, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia share it as their state tree). Farmer Bob gave a talk on how the trees produce the sugar in the sap through photosynthesis.

Today, producers use plastic tubing that draws the sap downhill to the sugar shack, where it is boiled into syrup. Thanks to the tubing, the sap stays clean. Not only is this cheaper and more efficient, it is more environmentally sound as there is no need to cut extensive roads into the forests and drive trucks back and forth to haul sap.

Science and Culinary Arts:You can also make your own maple syrup if you have sugar maples. Even if you do not, you can easily use store-bought maple syrup to make maple sugar candy at home. Or, even more simple, make sugar on snow (or shaved ice if you are snow-less, like us)! With a candy thermometer, measure the temperature as you heat the syrup. Why is the boiling point higher for syrup than for water? How does boiling the syrup help turn it into taffy or candy?

Science and Botany: Learn how to identify maples in late winter and learn about the life cycle of the maple (make a “four seasons” painting), the parts of the leaf (press a leaf of make a leaf rubbing and label each part), and the process of photosynthesis.

Ecology: How do recent innovations in sugaring help both the farmers and the environment?

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About the Author

Candace Lindemann is a published children’s writer and educational consultant. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Working with school districts around the country and some of the most well-known companies in the education industry, Candace creates custom strategies, textbooks, and lesson plans. Her articles have appeared in print and online.

While Candace’s degrees prepared her for a career in education, she’s found that the best preparation for parenting is on the job training.